Cartons



R. E. FINK CARTONS May 29, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 14, 1955 Q I Z 777; @MMMM ATTORNEY;

CARTONS Raymond E. Fink, East Haven, Conn., assignor to The New Haven Pulp and Board Co., New Haven, (101111., a corporation of Connecticut Application December 14, 1953, Serial No. 397,815

8 Claims. (Cl. 229--28) This invention relates to containers, and is concerned more particularly with a novel carton formed of a single piece of paper board and provided with integral portions serving to subdivide the interior of the carton into a plurality of compartments for receiving separate articles. The new carton may be shipped flat and can be easily erected and made ready for filling. Because of its interior partitions, it may be employed to special ad vantage in the distribution of fragile articles, such as paper oil filter refills, and a form of the carton suitable for such use will be illustrated and described in detail for the purpose of explanation.

The new carton is of rectangular section, and has bottom walls formed of two pairs of oppositely disposed inturned flaps. The flaps of one pair are transversely slotted, and those of the other pair are connected at their free ends to main partition panels. The partition panels lie face to face and extend upwardly through the slots to subdivide the interior of the carton. At their upper ends, the partition panels are creased and slotted to provide a pair of partition flaps which may be placed face to face and folded so as to form an upper partition wall lying at an angle to the plane of the partition panels, and thus further subdividing the interior of the carton. The upper free ends of the partition flaps extend above the top of the carton to form a handle and are held in place by lying within tranverse slots in a pair of top flaps formed integrally with opposite sides of the carton. A second pair of top flaps cooperate with the first pair to close the top of the carton.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a typical blank, from which a carton may be formed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the glued carton in the first stage of erection;

Figs. 3-6, inclusive, are top plan views showing successive stages in the erection of the carton;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the completed carton ready for filling; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the filled carton.

The blank shown in Fig. 1 is made of a single sheet of paper board stock and it includes four side wall panels 16), 11, 12 and 13 lying in a row and separated by crease lines 14, 15 and 16. The end panel at one end of the row, in this case, panel 13, is provided with a glue flap 17 along its outer end edge 18 and the flap can be secured to panel 10 in the usual way to complete the side wall structure.

The carton is provided with a bottom formed of two pairs of flaps connected to the lower ends of opposite side wall panels, each flap extending halfway across the bottom of the carton. The flaps 2i? and 21 of one pair are imperforate and connected to respective alternate side wall panels 10 and 12 along crease lines 22, 23. The flaps 24, 25 of the other pair are connected'to intermediate side wall panels 11 and 13, respectively, along nited States Patent ice crease lines 26 and 27 and are formed with respective transverse slots 24a, 25a extending entirely across the flaps.

The flaps 20 and 21 have integral extensions in the form of main partition panels 28, 29 connected to the ends of the flaps along respective crease lines 30, 31. Panel 23 terminates in an end section 32 forming part of a handle and provided with a finger opening 33, the end section being separated from the remainder of the panel by a transverse crease line 34. The length of the panel between lines 30 and 34 is approximately equal to the height of side wall panel 10. Panel 28 and its end section 32 are formed with a longitudinal crease line 35, which terminates approximately midway between lines 30 and 34. A cut 36 extends outwardly from the inner end of crease line 35 to one side edge of panel 28, and a cut 37 lying between the inner end of line 35 and line 34 extends outwardly to the other side edge of the panel. The cuts 36 and 37 and the axial fold line 35 define partition flaps 33 and 39.

Panel 29 is of the same formation as panel 28, and it terminates in an end section 40 separated from the main part of the panel by a crease line 41 and having a finger opening 42 formed therein. The panel and end section are formed with a longitudinal crease line 43, and lateral cuts 44 and 45 extending therefrom, which with the crease line define partition flaps 46, 47, similar to flaps 38, 39.

At its top, the carton is provided with two pairs of flaps, of which the flaps 48, 49 forming one pair are respectively connected to panels 10 and 12 along crease lines 50, 51 and are provided with transverse slots 48a, 49a. The flaps 52, 53 of the other pair are imperforate and are connected to panels 11 and 13 along respective crease lines 54, 55. The outer edge of flap 52 is provided with a tuck flap 56 connected there-to along a crease line 57, and flap 53 is provided with a similar tuck flap 53 connected thereto along crease line 59.

In the conversion of the blank into a carton, the blank is folded along crease line 15, and the glue flap 17 of side wall panel 13 is secured to panel 10 along its outer edge 10a. The carton may be shipped fiat to the point of use, with the side wall panels 12 and 13 face to face with panels 11 and 10, respectively, and the partition panels 28, '29 being folded inwardly.

in erecting the flat carton, its opposite folded edges 15, 18 are moved toward each other, so that the side walls separate and the body of the carton assumes a rectangular section, after which the slotted bottom flaps 24 and 25 are folded inwardly along crease lines 26 and 27. The bottom flap 20 is then folded inwardly along crease line 22 and the partition panel 28 is folded along crease line 30 and inserted into the slots 24a, 25a of flaps 24, 25, so that the panel extends lengthwise through the interior of the carton. The second bottom flap 21 is next folded inwardly along crease line 23, and the partition panel 29 is folded along crease line 31 and inserted through the slots 24a, 25a and placed in face to face relation with partition panel 28 (Fig. 3). in the next operation, the partition flap 39 is folded inwardly along crease line 35 and the partition flap 47 is similarly folded inwardly along crease line 43 (Fig. 4). During the fold ing of the partition flaps as described, their free lateral edges are caused to pass by each other (Figs. 4, 5 and this requires thatthe partition panel 28 with its flap 38 be separated from partition panel 29 with its flap 46, as shown. When partition flaps 39, 47 have cleared each other, the two partition panels 28, 29 are moved back to vertical position in contact, so that flaps 39, 47 lie at right angles to the plane of the panels. At this point, the flaps 38, 46 are folded through so as to lie at right angles to the plane of the partition panels and in alignment with flaps 39, 47, respectively (Fig. 6). The partition flaps thus cooperate to form an upper partition wall 28, which is disposed at right angles to the plane of the partition panels 28 and 29, and the carton is thereby divided into four generally rectangular compartments 60a, 60b, 60c and 60d, of approximately equal size (Fig. 7).

After the car-ton is filled, the top slotted flaps 48 and 49 are folded inwardly along crease lines 56 and 51, in such manner that the upper partition wall 28 lies within the slots 48a and 49a and is thereby held at right angles to the plane of partition panels 28, 29. The top flaps 52 and 53 are then folded inwardly along crease lines 54 and 55 and their respective tuck flaps 56 and 58 are inserted into the slots 48a and 49a to lie against opposite side of the upper partition wall 28'. The end sections 32 and 40 of the partition panels, which form a part of the upper partition wall 28, :then extend above the top of the carton to form a handle (Fig. 8) with the finger openings 33, 42 in registry and exposed. In order to facilitate the stacking of the cartons, the end sections 32 and 40 may be folded along their respective crease lines 34 and 41 and laid flat against the top wall flaps 52 and 53 of the erected carton.

One advantageous feature of the new carton is that, when it is made of paperboard stock printed on one side, the printed surface of the stock forms all exposed surfaces of the carton. When an ordinary carton having a pair of partition panels extending upwardly face to face through the carton in its median plane and having handles at their upper ends is made of stock printed on one face only, the outer faces of the panels and of the handles are the unprinted faces of the stock. In the new carton, the folding and interlocking of flaps 38, 39 and flaps 46, 47 result in the exposed surfaces of these flaps being formed by the same surfaces of the stock as the outer surfaces of the side walls, the bottom flaps 20, 21, and the top flaps 52, 53 of the carton. Thus, all exposed surfaces of the carton are formed by one surface of the stock, which is ordinarily printed.

Another advantage of the new carton, which will be apparent from Fig. l, is that the blank may be cut economically from the stock. The blanks can be laid out on the stock in nested fashion and thus can be cut from the stock with a minimum of waste.

I claim:

1. A carton blank which comprises four side wall panels lying in a row and separated by crease lines, a pair of transversely slotted fiaps attached to alternate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of solid flaps attached to the intermediate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of like partition panels connected to the free ends of respective solid flaps, each partition panel having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, a pair of solid flaps attached to said alternate side wall panels at the upper ends thereof, and a pair of transversely slotted fiaps attached to the upper ends of said intermediate side wall panels.

2. A carton blank which comprises four side wall panels lying in a row and separated by crease lines, a pair of transversely slotted flaps attached to alternate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of solid flaps attached to the intermediate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of like partition panels connected to the free ends of respective solid flaps, each partition panel terminating at its free end in an end section having a finger opening which is separated therefrom by a transverse fold line and each partition panel having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, a pair of solid flaps attached to said alternate side wall panels at the upper ends thereof, and a pair of transversely slotted fiaps attached to the upper ends of said intermediate side wall panels.

3. A carton blank which comprises four side wall panels lying in a row and separated by crease lines, a glue fiap attached to one end of the row of side wall panels, at least one transversely slotted flap attached to one of a pair of alternate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of solid flaps attached to the intermediate panels at the bottom ends thereof, a pair of like partition panels connected to the free ends of respective solid flaps, each partition panel terminating at its free end in an end section separated therefrom by a transverse fold line, and each partition panel having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end, a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, and each partition panel having a finger opening near its free end, a pair of solid flaps attached to said alternate side wall panels at the upper ends thereof, and at least one transversely slotted flap attached to the upper end of one of the intermediate side wall panels.

4. In a carton formed of a single blank having four like side wall panels and opposite pairs of inwardly folded bottom end fiaps attached to the lower edges of panels, the flaps of one pair being transversely slotted, partition means for subdividing the interior of the carton into a plurality of compartments, comprising like partition panels formed integral with the free end edges of the bottom flaps of one pair and extending through the slots in the bottom flaps of the other pair, the partition panels extending upwardly in face to face relation through the carton and each having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, the fold line and cuts of each partition panel defining a pair of partition flaps lying at an angle to the plane of the partition panels.

5. In a carton formed of a single blank having four like side wall panels and opposite pairs of inwardly folded bottom end flaps attached to the lower edges of the panels, the flaps of one pair being transversely slotted, partition means for subdividing the interior of the carton into a plurality of compartments, like partition panels formed integral with the free edges of the bottom flaps of one pair and extending through the slots in the bottom flaps of the other pair, the partition panels extending upwardly in face to face relation through the carton and each having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, the fold line and cuts of each partition panel defining a pair of partition flaps lying at an angle to the plane of the partition panels and in face to face relation, the upper free ends of the partition flaps extending above the top of the carton and having registering finger openings near the upper free ends thereof.

6. A carton formed of a single blank comprising four like side wall panels, at least one transversely slotted flap attached to the bottom end of one of a pair of alternate panels and to the upper end of one of a pair of intermediate panels, respectively, pairs of inwardly folded solid flaps attached to the bottom ends of the intermediate side wall panels and to the upper ends of the alternate side walls panels, respectively, and a pair of like partition panels connected to the free ends of respective solid fiaps at the bottom of the carton, the partition panels extending through the slots of the bottom slotted flap and upwardly in face to face relation through the carton interior, each partition having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, the fold line and cuts of each partition panel defining a pair of partition flaps lying at an angle to the plane of the partition panels and the free ends of the partition flaps extending through the slot in the slotted flap attached to the upper end of a side wall panel.

7. A carton formed of a single blank comprising four like side wall panels, pairs of inwardly folded, transversely slotted flaps attached to the bottom ends of alternate side wall panels and to the upper ends of intermediate side wall panels, respectively, pairs of inwardly folded solid flaps attached to the bottom ends of said intermediate side wall panels and to the upper ends of said alternate side wall panels, respectively, and a pair of partition panels connected to the free ends of respective solid flaps at the bottom of the carton, the partition panels extending through the slots of the bottom pair of slotted flaps and upwardly in face to face relation through the carton interior, each partition panel having a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from its free end and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to the opposite side edges of the panel in offset relation, the fold line and cuts of each partition panel defining a pair of partition flaps lying at an angle to the plane of the partition panels and the free ends of the partition flaps extending through the slots in the slotted flaps attached to the upper ends of the side wall panels.

8. A rectangular carton formed of a single blank comprising four like side wall panels, pairs of inwardly folded, transversely slotted flaps attached to the bottom ends of alternate side wall panels and to the upper ends of intermediate side walls, respectively, pairs of inwardly folded solid flaps attached to the bottom ends of said intermediate side wall panels and to the upper ends of said alternate side wall panels, respectively, and a pair of partition panels connected to respective free ends of the bottom pair of solid flaps and extending through the slots of the bottom pair of slotted flaps, each partition panel terminating at its free end in an end section separated therefrom by a laterally extending fold line, each partition panel having a finger opening near its free end, a central longitudinal fold line extending inwardly from the free end, and a pair of cuts extending laterally from the fold line to opposite side edges of the panel in ofiset relation, the fold line and cuts of each partition panel defining a pair of partition flaps lying at right angles to the plane of the partition panels, and the partition panels lying face to face with their end sections extending through the slots in the upper pair of slotted flaps, and tuck flaps connected to the free ends of the respective solid top end flaps and inserted in the slots of the slotted upper end flaps on opposite sides of the partition end sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,999,664 Reaume Apr. 30, 1935 2,304,683 Finn et al Dec. 8, 1942 2,529,675 Brulin Nov. 14, 1950 2,543,821 Arneson Mar. 6, 1951 

